Mobile communication terminal and information display method thereof

ABSTRACT

An information display method in a mobile communication terminal. The method includes displaying information on a display unit of the mobile terminal, generating a scrolling start signal, and scrolling the information with a positive acceleration based on the generated scrolling start signal.

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 11/723,709(now U.S. Pat. No. 7,822,443), filed on Mar. 21, 2007, which claimspriority to Korean Application 10-2006-0025759 filed in Korea on Mar.21, 2006, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal andcorresponding method for scrolling through information displayed on theterminal.

2. Description of the Related Art

Mobile communication terminals now provide many additional servicesbeside the basic call service. For example, a user can display pictures,scheduling information, a list of contacts (e.g., a phone book), etc. onthe terminal. However, because mobile terminals are compact in size, theamount of information that can be displayed on the terminal is limited.This inconveniences the user of the terminal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to address theabove-noted and other problems of the related art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication terminal and corresponding method that allows the user torapidly scroll through information displayed on the terminal.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, thepresent invention provides in one aspect an information display methodin a mobile communication terminal. The method includes displayinginformation on a display unit of the mobile terminal, generating ascrolling start signal, and scrolling the information with a positiveacceleration based on the generated scrolling start signal. The presentinvention also provides a corresponding mobile communication terminal.

In another aspect, the present invention provides an information displaymethod in a mobile communication terminal. The method includes scrollinginformation on a display unit of the mobile terminal, and terminatingthe scrolling step with a negative acceleration. The method alsoprovides a corresponding mobile terminal.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by illustration only, since various changes and modificationswithin the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings,which are given by illustration only, and thus are not limitative of thepresent invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a scrolling operation state diagram illustrating a scrollingoperation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schedule display state diagram illustrating anotherscrolling operation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating a scrolling speed of a scrolling deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a display state diagram illustrating a calendar being scrolledthrough on a terminal according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a display state diagrams illustrating a calendar beingscrolled through on a terminal according to another embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 7 is an overview illustrating music albums being scrolled throughon a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

Turning first to FIG. 1, which is a block diagram of a mobilecommunication terminal according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown, the mobile terminal includes an RF (RadioFrequency) module 1 for transmitting and receiving radio signals, anaudio processing unit 3 for processing audio signals input and outputthrough a microphone MIC and speaker SPK, a user input unit 9 allowing auser to request a scrolling operation, a display unit 7 for displayinginformation, a memory unit 12 for storing user information and programsfor controlling the terminal, and a control unit 5 for controlling anoverall operation of the terminal including the scrolling operation ofthe present invention.

In addition, the control unit 5 displays information such as pictures,scheduling information, contact information, etc. on the display unit 4based on instructions entered into the input unit 9. The control unit 5also controls a scrolling speed of information scrolled through on thedisplay unit 9 via instructions entered on the input unit 9.

Further, the input unit 9 includes various input devices for inputtingnumbers and text information and for controlling different operations ofthe terminal. For example, the input unit 9 includes keypads, directionkeys, side keys, etc., as well a sensor device allowing the user toinput information on the terminal. For example, the input unit 9 mayinclude a touch screen on the display unit 7 allowing the user to inputinformation by touching the touch screen. The sensor device may alsoinclude a touching sensor, distance sensor, a terrestrial magnetismsensor, etc.

Further, the direction keys, the side keys, the sensor device, etc. maybe set as the device the user uses to scroll through information on thedisplay unit 7. The scrolling operation of the present invention will bediscussed in more detail later. The scrolling key may also be set as aplurality of keys for scrolling start/stop/acceleration/retardation,etc. or only one key may be set.

In addition, the set scrolling key(s) may be used to perform severaldifferent functions. For example, the scrolling speed may be increasedby the user pressing a pressure sensor key set as the scrolling key fora longer period of time or with more pressure. The scrolling speed mayalso be increased by selecting a particular touch sensor key in a rapidmanner (e.g., double or triple clicking a particular key).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the memory unit 12 stores user scheduleinformation 16 such as photos, phone book data, and stores schedulecontrol program(s) 14. The memory unit 12 also stores a scrollingprogram 18 for performing a scrolling operation according to anembodiment of the present invention. Further, the user scheduleinformation 16 includes schedule information such as appointments,business plans, etc. input by a user, and related information such asthe date, time, place, etc. of the corresponding schedule.

In addition, the schedule control program 14 supplies the input andoutput interfaces for the user schedule information 16, and controlsuser schedule information entered by the user. For instance, an inputwindow for inputting schedule information and a display window todisplay the entered information are provided. In addition, the schedulecontrol function performs a reminder function, etc. on a correspondingdate and time of input user schedule information 16.

In addition, a FLASH program may be used with the scrolling program 18.In more detail, the FLASH program is copyrighted software developed byMacromedia, and is used for making animation pictures based on vectorsaccompanying simple interaction. The FLASH program is also useful forcontrolling the input and output of pictures displayed on the terminal.For example, pictures can be displayed in a rapid manner so as to createa smooth presentation of the displayed pictures. Therefore, thescrolling program 18 can be created to display graphic data at variablespeeds to coincide with a scrolling speed set by the present invention.

Further, the control unit 5 controls the different functions of themobile terminal such as the phone book function, the schedule function,the memo function, the album function, etc. based on controlling datastored in the memory unit 12. The control unit 5 also displays text andimages on the display unit 7. In addition, the control unit 5 controlsan image or other information displayed on the display unit 7 to bescrolled in upper, lower, left and right direction in accordance withinformation input by the user through the input unit 9. The control unit5 also starts the scrolling operation and increases the scrolling speedslowly when a scrolling start signal is first input, and then controlsthe scrolling operation to be stopped at a desired final part whileslowly decreasing the scrolling speed when a scrolling stop signal isinput.

Further, when the corresponding scrolling signals are input and thescrolling acceleration/retardation function is turned on, the controlunit 5 controls the scrolling speed variously. For example, the controlunit 5 increases the scrolling speed when a user increases the pressureon an input pressure sensor or when the user continuously touches atouch sensor. The scrolling program 18 controls the scrolling speed inaccordance with information input by the user.

Turning next to FIG. 2, which is a scrolling operation state diagramillustrating how a scrolling speed is changed according to an embodimentof the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, a scroll line 22 and ascroll bar 20 are displayed on the display unit 7 when data to bedisplayed on the screen is larger than the size of the screen. Further,the scroll line 22 indicates an overall length and breadth of thegraphic data, and the location of the scroll bar 20 indicates a locationof the currently displayed graphic data against the length of the entiregraphic data. In addition, a user can determine that the end of the datais displayed when the scroll bar 22 reaches the end of the scroll line22. The user can also determine the middle portion of the data is beingdisplayed when the scroll bar 22 is at the middle of the scroll line 22.

In addition, when the user selects the scrolling function through theuser input unit 9, a scrolling start signal is sent to the control unit5, and thus the control unit 5 starts to scroll the informationdisplayed on the display unit 7 at the starting point “a.” Further, asshown in FIG. 2, the control unit 5 slowly increases the scrolling speedor acceleration until the position “b” and then slowly decreases thescrolling speed or acceleration until the scrolling operation is stoppedat point “c.” The user can also check the scrolling condition as thescroll bar 20 moves on the scroll line 22 with the same speed as thescrolling speed of the information displayed on the display unit 7.Further, the information displayed on the display unit 7 is displayednaturally.

In addition, the user can skip through portions of the informationbecause the scrolling speed or acceleration is initially increased andthen decreased as shown in FIG. 2. That is, the scrolling speed is notconstant. Therefore, the user can easily search photo data, phone bookdata, schedule data, etc.

Next, FIG. 3 is a display state diagram of a schedule control displaywindow according to an embodiment of the present invention. In thisexample, the schedule control display window displays the user scheduleinformation 16 on the display unit 7. Further, the user can scrollthrough the displayed information using the scroll bar 30 displayed on atime scroll line 32. In more detail, the schedule control display windowsupplied by the schedule control program 14 includes a schedule viewwindow 35 for displaying information, a first time line 37 and a secondtime line 41, the time scroll bar 30 and the time scroll line 32displaying the date of the currently displayed schedule and displayingthe scrolling condition of the schedule view window 35, and menus 43.

Further, the user can input and edit the schedule information using theadd and edit functions included in the menus 43. The user can also setan environment such as setting the color of the schedule view window 35,the displaying condition, etc. using the option function. In addition,the schedule information such as events, appointments, location, etc.input by the user are displayed on the schedule view window 35. Photosor other graphics may also be displayed at the same time.

In addition, schedule information per day is displayed on the scheduleview window 35. Further, the breadth size of the user scheduleinformation is generally larger than a size of the display. Thus, theuser can check the information not displayed on the schedule view window35 using the scroll bar 40 supplied on the schedule view window 35.Thus, in this example, there are two scroll bars: the scroll bar 30 forscrolling through different days in the schedule, and the scroll bar 40used for scrolling through information displayed per day on the displaywindow 35.

Further, the first time line 37 displays the different days in a month,the second time line 41 displays the months, and the time scroll bar 30can be used to scroll through the different days of the month. As shownin FIG. 3, the scroll bar 30 is positioned between the first time line37 and the second time line 41. That is, the time scroll line 32 and thetime scroll bar 30 are displayed under the first time line 37 displayingthe different days of the month. Thus, the user can scroll through thedifferent days of the month using the scroll bar 30.

In more detail, the user can move the scroll bar 30 in a left or rightdirection on the scroll line 32 to respectively show dates earlier orlater in the corresponding month. For example, the first time line 37 inFIG. 3 displays the date from the 21st to the 27^(th). Thus, the usercan display dates after 27th by moving the scroll bar 30 in the rightdirection, and display the dates before the 21st by moving the scrollbar 30 in the left direction.

In addition, it also possible to display the dates having input scheduleinformation using schedule directors 39 a, 39 b and 39 c. For example,the first time line 37 in FIG. 3 includes the schedule directors 39 a,39 b and 39 c on each of the dates 23rd, 24th and 26th. Further, thecurrent day of the present month is first displayed at a center positionas a standard when the schedule controlling function is first started.Also, the second time line 41 displays the months, and the current monthor selected month is highlighted. For example, in FIG. 3, the selectedor current month is MAY. Further, when the scroll bar 30 is moved into anew month, the new month is then highlighted.

Turning now to FIG. 4, which is a graph illustrating a scrolling speedof the schedule view window 35 shown in FIG. 3. As discussed previously,the user can select the scrolling function using the input unit 9. Forexample, the user can select a direction key or side key as thescrolling key, or select a left/right key or up/down key as thescrolling key. Further, when the display is a touch screen, the user cansimply touch and drag the time scroll bar 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the user moves the time scroll bar 30 in a rightdirection from the 24^(th) day to the 26^(th) day. As shown in the lowerportion of FIG. 4, the scrolling speed is initially increased and thendecreased. This is similar to FIG. 2. Thus, in this example, theschedule information displayed on the terminal moves from the 24^(th)date to the 26^(th) date with the scrolling speed being increased slowlyand then decreased slowly and finally stopped.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the schedule directors 39 a, 39 b and39 c are displayed. Thus, the scrolling operation stops at the day of26^(th) on which the schedule director 39 c is indicated. Further, thescroll bar 30 stops as the speed is slowly decreased at the location ofthe 26^(th) day. Further, when a user selects the scrolling speed beaccelerated, the time scroll bar 30 is scrolled faster than before.

Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 are display state diagrams illustrating a scrollingoperation for appointments according to another embodiment of thepresent invention. In this example, FIG. 5 illustrates the scheduleinformation being scrolled in left and right directions, and FIG. 6illustrates the schedule information being scrolled in upper and lowerdirections.

As shown in FIG. 5, the schedule information is displayed in a bookformat and the user can scroll through pages of the schedule by movingthe scroll bar 30 on the scroll line 32. As discussed above, the usercan use a key on the terminal to move the scroll bar 30 or simply dragthe scroll bar 30 when the display is a touch screen. The control unit 5also variably adjusts the scroll speed as discussed above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the displayed window also includes theschedule directors 39 a, 39 b and 39 indicating the 23rd, the 24^(th)and the 26^(th) day of the month. Further, the currently displayed datesinclude the pages 50 a and 50 b corresponding to May 23 and May 24,respectively. Thus, when the user moves the scroll bar 30 in the rightdirection (as shown by the arrow), the pages in the schedule book arescrolled through in the left direction (with an initial increased scrollacceleration and then a decreased scroll acceleration).

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5, but the pages 50 a and 50 b are displayedone above the other. In this example, the pages of the schedule book arescrolled in an up and down fashion. The schedule directors 25 a, 25 band 25 c are also displayed in FIG. 6. The scroll speed is also adjustedvariably as discussed above.

Further, FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user scrolling through CDsor album covers according to an embodiment of the present invention. Inmore detail, the user can download their favorite music onto theirmobile terminal. The music (e.g., MP3 files) may be organized intoalbums, types of music, etc. In the example of FIG. 6, the music isarranged into groups of albums 60. Further, the user can scroll throughthe arrangement of albums using the scroll bar 30. The scroll speed andother elements can be operated in a similar manner as discussed abovewith respect to the other embodiments. Thus, the user can easily scrollthrough their music files.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, an album corresponding to where thescrolling album has stopped is displayed horizontally so the user caneasily see the album cover. Further, information may be written on edgesof the music album so the user can also view the title and otherinformation related to the particular CD or music selection. The albumsmay also be separated from each other by a sufficient distance such thatthe user can see a portion of the front cover of the album as well asthe edge portion. The CDs or albums are also displayed at an angle so auser can see a portion of the front cover of the CD or album.

In addition, the above-description describes the user using the scrollbar to scroll through information. However, the user can also use his orher finger to “flip” or scroll through pages of information rather thanusing the scroll bar. That is, when the display is a touch screen, theuser can simply “flick” the display screen to scroll or flip throughpages of the information. For example, and with reference to FIG. 7, theuser can simply place his or her finger over the CDs and drag or flicktheir finger in a direction he or she wants to scroll.

In addition, the control unit 5 determines a distance of a stroke of theuser's finger and scrolls a predetermined amount based on the determineddistance. For example, if the user strokes or drags his or her fingeracross the screen a short distance, the control unit 5 would scroll aless amount of albums than if the user strokes or drags his or herfinger all the way across the screen. In addition, the memory unit 12can store a table including values related to a stroke distance and anamount of information (e.g., pages) to scroll through. For example, ifthe user strokes his or her finger 10 cm across the touch screen, thecontrol unit can flip through 20 pages, if the user strokes his or herfinger across the screen 5 cm, the control unit can flip through 5pages, etc. The amount of information to scroll through can also be setand changed by the user using menu options provided with the terminal.

For example, the user can create a table including stroke distances anda corresponding number of pages to flip through using menus providedwith the terminal. Thus, the amount of information to be scrolledthrough can be variably set by the user, which is particularlyadvantageous because each user may have different scrolling preferences.In addition, the control unit can also determine an amount ofinformation to scroll through based on how much pressure the user usesto perform a scrolling operation.

In addition, the user can also press a particular button on the terminal(or a portion of a touch screen) to rapidly scroll information. That is,the control unit rapidly scrolls through information as long as the useris pressing or touching the particular button, and then when the userrelease the particular button, the control unit begins to slow down thescrolling operation. Thus, the user controls when the scrollingoperation is to begin slowing down. This differs from the above examplesin which the user moves the scroll bar to a particular location and thecontrol unit automatically increases and decreases the scrolling speedto the information corresponding to where the scroll bar is finallylocated is displayed.

Thus, in accordance with the above-described embodiments of the presentinvention, when the intervals between information to be scrolled throughis large, the information in the middle that the user is notparticularly interested in can be scrolled through rapidly. In addition,the user can scroll through the information by moving the scroll bar orby continuously pressing a particular scrolling key.

Further, the scrolling operation in which the scrolling speed isincreased and then decreased results in information being displayed inan efficient manner. That is, the information is naturally displayed asthe scrolling is stopped, and is rapidly displayed when the scrollingspeed is increased.

In addition, the above-described scrolling operations can be applied toall types of information used in mobile communication terminals, such assearching photos, searching phone book information stored, etc. Further,the present invention is particular advantageous over other scrollingmethods because the user can quickly and efficiently scroll throughinformation. On the contrary, other scrolling methods only scrollthrough information at a constant speed (i.e., one page at a time).Further, the other scrolling methods do not allow the user to adjust orset a desired scrolling speed.

This invention may be conveniently implemented using a conventionalgeneral purpose digital computer or microprocessor programmed accordingto the teachings of the present specification, as will be apparent tothose skilled in the computer art. Appropriate software coding canreadily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of thepresent disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the softwareart. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation ofapplication specific integrated circuits whereby interconnecting anappropriate network of conventional computer circuits, as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art. Any portion of the presentinvention implemented on a general purpose digital computer ormicroprocessor includes a computer program product which is a storagemedium including instructions which can be used to program a computer toperform a process of the invention.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described embodiments are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of theclaims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling a mobile terminal, themethod comprising: displaying a list of a plurality of items on adisplay area of a touchscreen of the mobile terminal, wherein a firstitem of the plurality of items is displayed in a middle of the listhorizontally such that a cover of the first item can be displayed on thelist horizontally, and other items of the plurality of items aredisplayed in a left and right of the middle of the list at an angle suchthat a portion of a cover of each item can be displayed on the list; anddisplaying a second item in a middle of the list horizontally such thata cover of the second item can be displayed on the list horizontally inresponse to a first touching operation for scrolling of the list;wherein the first item is moved to a direction related to the firsttouching operation and is displayed at an angle such that a portion ofthe cover of the first item can be displayed on the list, and whereinthe first item is displayed with an enlarged size when it is displayedin the middle of the list compared to a size of the first item when itis not displayed in the middle of the list.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a second touching operation on the coverof the first item, wherein the cover of the first item comprises a firstinformation corresponding to the first item; and displaying secondinformation corresponding to the first item displayed in the middle ofthe list, the second information being different from the firstinformation.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: removing thefirst information from the touchscreen when the second information isdisplayed.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of itemsincludes at least one of an image, an album and a music file.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the scrolling the list includes scrolling thelist with a gradually increasing scrolling speed.
 6. The method of claim5, further comprising: controlling the scrolling speed in accordancewith at least one of a strength, a moving distance, and a duration of atouch signal through the touchscreen.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: stopping the scrolling of the list at an end pointcorresponding to a scrolling stop signal when the scrolling stop signalis received while scrolling the list, wherein the first item of whichthe first information is displayed corresponds to the end point when thescrolling of the list is stopped.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thescrolling speed is gradually decreased towards the end point.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first touching operation is a draggingoperation or a flicking operation on the touchscreen.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first touching operation is a dragging operation ona scroll bar displayed on the touchscreen.
 11. A mobile terminal,comprising: a touchscreen configured to display a list of a plurality ofitems on a display area, wherein a first item of the plurality of itemsis displayed in a middle of the list horizontally such that a cover ofthe first item can be displayed on the list horizontally, and otheritems of the plurality of items are displayed in a left and right of themiddle of the list at an angle such that a portion of a cover of eachitem can be displayed on the list; and a controller configured todisplay a second item in a middle of the list horizontally such that acover of the second item can be displayed on the list horizontally inresponse to a first touch operation for scrolling of the list, whereinthe first item is moved to a direction related to the first touchingoperation and is displayed at an angle such that a portion of the coverof the first item can be displayed on the list, and wherein the firstitem is displayed with an enlarged size when it is displayed in themiddle of the list compared to a size of the first item when it is notdisplayed in the middle of the list.
 12. The mobile terminal of claim11, wherein the controller is further configured to receive a secondtouching operation on the displayed first information, wherein the coverof the first item comprises a first information corresponding to thefirst item, and to display second information corresponding to the oneitem displayed in the middle of the list, the second information beingdifferent from the first information.
 13. The mobile terminal of claim12, wherein the first information disappears from the touchscreen whenthe second information is displayed.
 14. The mobile terminal of claim11, wherein the plurality of items includes at least one of an image, analbum and a music file.
 15. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein thecontroller is further configured to scroll the list with a graduallyincreasing scrolling speed when a scrolling start signal is receivedcorresponding to the first touching operation.
 16. The mobile terminalof claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to control thescrolling speed in accordance with at least one of a strength, a movingdistance, and a duration of a touch signal through the touchscreen. 17.The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to stop the scrolling of the list at an end pointcorresponding to a scrolling stop signal when the scrolling stop signalis received while scrolling the list, and wherein the first item ofwhich the first information is displayed corresponds to the end pointwhen the scrolling of the list is stopped.
 18. The mobile terminal ofclaim 17, wherein the scrolling speed is gradually decreased towards theend point when the scrolling stop signal is received when scrolling thelist.
 19. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the first touchingoperation is a dragging operation or a flicking operation on thetouchscreen.
 20. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the firsttouching operation is a dragging operation on a scroll bar displayed onthe touchscreen.